Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I am concerned, and my colleagues who hold the transport brief will agree with me, that there seems to be a lack of accountability in this area. We are not allowed to ask the Minister questions about roads or Luas, rather we are told to ask the NRA or the Railway Procurement Agency respectively. Extra layers of bureaucracy seem to be put in front of us all the time. We are concerned that the Minister will not want to answer questions on this issue but will instead abdicate his role and put pressure on the chairperson of this new commission, who will then appear before the Oireachtas committee. I would appreciate any comments the Minister of State could make in order to clarify the situation and ensure that the new commission is accountable and that Members of both Houses can access information at any time. Unfortunately, there seems to be a general trend for Ministers to become less and less accountable, a situation which probably suits them.